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Friday, January 26, 2018

Build a Fabulous Foundation Through Mindful Movement

Why Movement Training

When we start to make one of our rich, hearty, healthy soups this time of year, what do we start with? What goes on the list as we head to the store with a good veggie stew in mind? Broth, onions, celery, carrots. Maybe we add in sweet potatoes, peppers, parsnips, beets. We pick spicy or savory or smoky seasonings, and the recipe often says "to taste." But we always start with the basics. The specific result, that perfect soup that will cut the cold outside and fuel your body your way depends on what goes in last. The spice, seasoning and garnishes are the final touches that we may notice at first taste, and certainly as it's served. But the basics are what make the meal.

Movement training is like this broth.

We can start with movement training and take it in any direction we want. Human bodies are designed to move, a lot. In most cases these days, we dedicate only short bits of time to movement in particular and wellness in general. We're moving less as a culture, and our disease processes reflect it. Many chronic ailments, especially musculoskeletal pain, can be addressed, at least in part, with movement. It's not complicated. It doesn't require any equipment other than a body and gravity. Maybe some space on a floor.

But we like spicy. We like sexy fancy exercises that we can share and post and impress with. We all like to feel inspired, motivated (wow! I wonder if I can do that?!); we like to be included, and proud (Hey! Look what she did today!). And we deserve to be proud. We can and should continue to motivate ourselves and others through shared progress. Progress may mean the evolution of the fitness industry to a smarter wellness movement. A culture in which we first establish a solid foundation of fundamental human movement on which to build strong powerful people. Delicious healthy stew, starting from solid healthy broth, not just spices in boiling water.

Solid Construction

Imagine construction. A solid enduring pyramid. A towering skyscraper. An artful cathedral. They may look vastly different at the end of the process, but I'll bet their beginnings looks quite similar. A building needs a solid foundation in order to survive construction and certainly in order to function with the builders' intended purpose. Movement training is that big wide base that will support the Why, whatever it may be. No building ever survived that was built on shaky ground. Even in Venice and San Francisco, adjustments are made to reinforce the foundation in order to support construction.

This discussion usually starts with "why?" and continues in many directions, as we've all got different reasons for being here. You're reading this for a different reason than the last person and the next person will have another Why. But you're all humans. You've got different histories, backgrounds, experiences, and stories. Different goals, aspirations, motivations. Different demands, networks, barriers, and supports. Different flavors. But you're all humans. And humans have evolved to move in so many beautiful ways. You all deserve to move well, and be well.

Human movement is a balanced combination of mobility and stability, and movement training is simply a path to maintain what your body was built to do. We include it in Kaia FIT workouts since coaches take that time to assess their athletes' movement for the day and allow the athletes to explore movement prior to adding weight and speed. We know that the human body is designed to move in certain ways, and once you have identified where you excel and what needs attention, you can fill in the cracks and get to building. You never wake up the exact same as yesterday, so each day is a new opportunity to assess and progress. Exercises and parts of training designed to improve movement quality are not necessarily easy, especially the ones you need the most, but they won't leave you feeling taxed, beat down, or hurt. They can turn into an excellent pre-run warm up, or a pre-bed cool down. They can be the missing link that allows your wellness to soar to the next level.